Barber (9-for-11) was the only N.C. State player who had any kind of touch from the foul line. The Wolfpack especially struggled during the first half, going 7-for-16.

“This game was close because we’ve got to make a foul shot,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. “We’ve got to be a lot better at the foul line, it’s real simple.”

Gottfried said his team has good foul shooters, but his starters other than Barber went 11-for-22. Sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu chipped in 14 points, nine rebounds and two blocks but was 6-of-11 from the line.

The misses were contagious in the first half, Abu said.

“Definitely, when you miss them as a team, you want to make them more,” Abu said. “We just have to focus in and knock them down.”

IUPUI, a joint campus of Indiana and Purdue located in Indianapolis, stayed in the game with nine 3-pointers. The Jaguars (1-2) got back-to-back 3s from junior forward Matt O’Leary (17 points) to cut N.C. State’s lead to 30-25 at 5 minutes, 19 seconds in the first half.

With only a seven-man rotation, the Wolfpack has been only able to turn up the defensive intensity in spurts, though.

N.C. State held IUPUI to nine field goals and 29 percent from the floor in the second half and 33.3 percent for the game.

N.C. State shot better from the floor in the first half (45.2 percent) than the foul line (43.8 percent).

Still, after dropping the opener to William & Mary, the Wolfpack has beaten South Alabama and IUPUI. “Power 5” opponents are up next with Arizona State on Monday in Brooklyn, N.Y., and either Marquette or Louisiana State on Tuesday.

The schedule is about to pick up and Gottfried sees his young team doing the same.

“Steps in the right direction but, obviously, we know we have a long way to go,” Gottfried said.